Image and video streaming applications have increased in popularity in recent years. These applications can range from software and devices that enable on-demand streaming of content to a user, to peer-to-peer video streaming, to on-line video broadcasts, as well as to image and video sharing within a user's home network. These applications may require transmission of images and video over wired as well as wireless networks. For example, proliferation of mobile multimedia devices such as smart phones that can record and playback image and video data has led to an increased interest in technologies that enable high quality wireless image and video transmission as well as in technologies that enable seamless connectivity between such devices and other inter-connected multimedia devices. New developments in video such as an emergence of 3D stereoscopic and multi-view video as well as high dynamic range imaging and video will also add to a need for high quality image and video transmission while further increasing the bandwidth requirements. Therefore, the ability to provide high quality images and video over constrained bandwidth networks is a major factor for all such streaming applications.
Two factors, however, can affect the ability to stream high quality image and video data. They are bandwidth limitations and random unpredictable losses in the channel.